Razor handle



April 22,1941. s. EDELHEIT ET AL RAZOR HANI'JLE Filed Deo. 8, 1937 mw@ m, M

EM WfW ,0M om Patented Apr. 22, 1941 UNITED RAZOR HANDLE S01 Edelheit, New York, and Richard F. Landwehr, Laurelton, Long Island, N. Y.

Application December 8, 1937, Serial No. 178,713

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in safety razors, more particularly, to the handle of safety razors, and has for its object the provision of a safety razor handle in which the face contacting members of the razor or razor head (namely, the blade holder and guard, the cap and the blade itself) are resiliently mounted in such manner as to have a resilient, shock proof, non-chattering connection between the handle and razor head. This novel mounting of the razor head in relation tothe handle is what might be termed a floating mounting.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a handle assembly having the general characteristics above set forth, which may readily accept the razor head assembly or face contacting members of existing commercial safety razors of the wafer blade type. A still further object of this invention is to provide a handle to accomplish the above results and which shall consist of few, simple and inexpensive parts.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects as shall hereinafter appear or be pointed out, we have shown one embodiment of our invention in the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a safety razor handle, mostly in section, embodying our invention, to which has been secured a razor head assembly (holder and guard, blade and cap) of a commercial safety razor of the wafer type;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the complete razor of Figure l, with the handle mostly in section; and

Figure 3 is a section through the handle, on lines 3 3 of Figure 2.

It has been proposed before to provide a re-l silient connection between the face contacting members of a safety razor and its handle. In one such prior art device it is proposed tov use a coil spring between the face contacting members and the handle; in another, it is proposed to employ a short section of rubber between the face contacting members and the handle; in still .another prior art device, the face contacting tacting` members or razor head assembly, the radial line from the pivotal point of the resilient joint to the razor head, or rather, the radial line which is normal to the plane of the razor head is of necessity very short. Hence the resiliency of the connection, as measured in the degree or angle of tilting about the pivotal point, cannot be as great as would be desired; in fact, the resiliency is not, in such devices, great enough to attain the results sought for. The reason the resiliency must be held between narrow limits is that too great a tilting about the pivotal point of the resilient joint would result in large changes in the shaving angle, by which is meant the angle the blade makes with the surface of the face. The ldifficulty in shaving with devices provided with resilient connections between the face members and the handle, in the manner heretofore proposed, is that the blade parts are held with uncertainty in the handle and prevent the user from maintaining the optimum shaving angle and control.

Resilient or flexible connections of these types and of similar nature have, of necessity, been provided close to the razor head assembly, i. e. at the upper portion of the handle.

We have been able, by the improvements of our invention, to provide a resilient connection between the face contacting members and the handle of a safety razor which has ample resiliency without, at the same time, resulting in Wide deviations of the shaving angle from the optimum angle or lack of control of the razor head. We accomplish these, and other results, by positioning the resilient resistance and gripping member in a reverse position from that heretofore used, such as by locating the pivotal point very close to the bottom end of the handle (rather than at the top end near the razor head assembly, as heretofore proposed) being able to locate the pivotal point at a distance from the face contacting members (without destroying the resiliency by manipulation of the handle, as would be the case in prior art connections) by the provision of a hollow handle within which the said pivotal point is housed.

Referring now to the figures, the face contacting members are the blade holder and guard member I0, the blade of the wafer type II and a cap member I2, which is provided with a threaded bolt |2b, which clears through holes in the blade and holding and guard member (not shown). These'parts are illustrated to show the usual construction and may be the razor head or face contacting members of existing commercial safety razors, to which may be readily applied the novel handle of our invention, the usual rigid handle of the commercial safety razor being displaced.

The improved handle of our invention, designated I, has a central bore 2, terminating near the bottom in a conical seat 3. Within the handle is contained a long rod 4, pointed at its lower end 5, and received in the conical seat 3, as shown. The inner rod 4 may therefore tilt or deflect in all directions about pivotal point 3p, this joint being, in fact, universal. The upper end of the rod is provided with a hub or iiange 6, provided with a central, tapped hole 6b, into which may be screwed bolt I2b of the face contacting members I0, II, I2, to secure them firmly onto the inner rod. The face contacting members are thus supported at the top of the inner rod and have a free pivotal movement about point 3p. It will be observed from the drawing that suflicient clearance is provided between the bottom of hub Ii and the top of handle I to permit free movement of the inner rod and the face contacting members secured thereto. It will further be observed that the amount of pivotal deection or floating movement of the parts is limited by the abutting of the inner rod 4 against the inner walls of the handle.

The central bore 2 of the handle is offset a short distance from the bottom to form a shoulder 1, the purpose of which is to hold in place a resilient resistance member, preferably rubber washer 8, which, in addition, is frictionally held within the handle bore. It is made of live soft rubber to provide a resilient spring action to the inner rod 4 which is passed through the hole of the washer. That is, the resilient washer normally maintains the inner rod and the face contacting member in a central position, as shown in the figures. Slight pressure upon any point of the face contacting members will cause a deflection of the parts against the spring action of the washer, which is slightly compressed between the inner rod and the inside wall of the handle. It should be noted that an exceedingly slight pressure upon the face contacting members,I in the shaving operation, will suffice to deflect the floating parts, since the arrangement is, in elfect, a lever of the third order, with a fulcrum at 3p, a resistance point at 8 (the resilient washer), and

a pressure point at I0, II, I2 (the face contacting i members). Inasmuch as the force or pressure applied to the face contacting members is at a point furthest from fulcrum 311, the leverage is at the maximum and hence a slight pressure will readily deflect the parts and give a smooth resilient action.

The inner rod 4 is prevented from becoming loose from the handle by the provision of a pin 9, riveted or otherwise fastened in the handle and passing through an eye 4h, provided in inner rod 4, close to its lower (pointed) end. Eye 4h is rounded,ras shown in Figure 2, so that the pin 9 will offer no obstacle or restriction to the pivotal deilecting movement of the inner rod on point 3p.

In addition to a variable deiiecting of the inner rod in all necessary directions of large radii on the point 310, the rod has torsional movement through the axial line through the rod on this point (clockwise anld counter, Figure 3). To permit this angular turning of the inner rod, eye 4h is rounded as shown in Figure 3, the amount or angle of turning being limited by abutment of the sides of the eye 4h with pin 9. The :angular turning of inner rod 4 (together with the face Cal contacting members secured thereto) is against the torsional resiliency of the resistance member in the form of the rubber Washer 8, with which the rod makes frictional Contact in the orifice of the washer through which the rod passes.

It will also be understood that while we have described the resistance member of soft rubber, such as tire inner tube rubber, this is for exemplilcation purposes only and equivalent materials will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

It will thus be observed that we have provided a razor handle, attachable quickly to Well known razor head assemblies, in which a new kind of resiliency and razor head control is obtained. Irregularties on the face are automatically compensated by the mounting and the insensitivity of the fingers of the unskilled shaver is not a handicap to getting best shaving results. This we accomplish, as to the predominant features, by a controlled resilient mounting of the razor head when using our handle by a mounting for the razor head so that the resilient resistance is to one side of the hand gripping section of the handle and razor head rather than between these members.

While we have described our invention as providing the best results when all of the features are combined, it will be understood that segregated features may be employed and that our invention is not to be considered as limited but lies within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention and illustrated its use, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a safety razor comprising a razor head assembly, a hollow handle therefor having a hand gripping section and means comprising a substantially rigid rod extending into the handle, one end whereof serves for mounting the said head in relation to the hand gripping section so that the said head and handle have a free and controlled resilient movement in relation to each other about a fixed pivotal point located near the extreme end of the handle to have a constant radius from a point near the end of the handle which determines the arc of movement of said head without material change in the shaving angle of said head, said resilient movement being controlled by a member positioned between said rod and handle, said pivotal point being formed by a bearing seat adjacent the bottom of said handle on which rests the lower end of said rod extending into the handle.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the said mounting means includes a conical pivotal point whereby the said razor head has a universal movement about such pivotal point.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein the said handle is hollow and provided at its lower end with a conical seat and wherein the said mounting means includes a rod pointed at one end to be received in the said conical seat.

4. In a safety razor comprising a razor head assembly, a tubular handle therefor having a hand gripping section and means comprising a relatively rigid member extending into said handle for mounting the said head in relation to the hand gripping section so that the said head and handle have a free and controlled resilient movement in relation to each other, resilient means interposed between said handle and member, a pivotal seat therefor located adjacent the bottom of said tubular handle and with which the lower end of said rigid member contacts,

said hand gripping section being located between said pivot and said razor head.

5. In a safety razor comprising a razor head, a handle therefor having a central boring, provided at the end of the central boring with a bearing seat and an inner, substantially rigid rod formed at one end to be received in bearing contact with, and resting upon the said seat to .provide substantially universal movement thereof on said seat, the other end of which rod is provided with means for securing the razor head, said rod and handle being restrained in their relative movement by a resilient element disposed between the handle and rod.

6. In a safety razor comprising a razor head, a handle therefor having a central boring, provided at the end of the central boring with a bearing seat and an inner, substantially rigid rod formed at one end to be received in bearing contact with, and resting upon the said seat to provide substantially universal movement thereof on said seat, the other end of which rod is provided with means for securing the razor head, said central bore of the handle being provided with a shoulder near the bottom thereof, further provided with a resilient rubber washer positioned on the said shoulder and encircling the said inner rod, and frictionally restraining the same against axial movement.

7,. In a safety razor comprising a razor head,

a handle made hollow by forming the same with an extended central boreand provided at the end of the central bore with a conical seat, an inner rod pointed at its lower end to be received in the said conical seat, to the other end of which is secured the razor head assembly, and means adjacent said lower end for connecting said rod to the handle against displacement axially.

8. In a safety razor comprising a razor head, a handle made hollow by forming the same with an extended central bore and provided at the end of the central bore with a conical seat, an inner rod pointed at its lower end to be received in the said conical seat, to the other end of which is secured the razor head assembly, and means adjacent said lower end for connecting said rod to the handle against displacement axially, and resilient means lfor axially restraining said end on said seat.

9. The article in accordance with claim 7 wherein the means for connecting the rod to said handle includes a transverse member engaging said rod and the wall of said bore, the portion of said rod engaging said member being formed to allow for tilting and torsional movement while said rod is on the seat.

Cil

10. The article in accordance with claim '7 wherein the means for connecting the rod to said handle includes a transverse member engaging said rod and the wall of said bore, the portion of said rod engaging said member being formed to allow for tilting and torsional movement while said rod is on the seat and a resilient washer providing compressional resiliency to the inner rod in universal deflection about the pivotal point of the said conical seat and torsional resiliency to-the inner rod in axial deflection about the said pivotal point.

11. The article in accordance with claim 10 wherein the means for connecting the rod to said handle includes a transverse member engaging said rod and the wall of said ibore, the portion of said rod engaging said member Ibeing formed to allow for tilting and torsional movement while said rod is on the seat and a resilient washer providing compressional resiliency to the inner rod in universal deflection about the pivotal point of the said conical seat and torsional resiliency to the inner rod in axial deflection about the said pivotal point, and means to limit the deflection, to thereby retain control of the shaving head.

12. In a safety razor handle for use with a razor head comprising a tubular section substantially closed at one end, a friction bearing seat adjacent said end providing a pivotal point, a rigid member axially disposed in said tubular section, one end of said member being provided with a bearing surface contacting and resting on said seat arranged to be pivoted on the seat of the tubular handle by relative movement in relation thereto, the opposite end of said member having means for attaching a razor head thereto, said rigid member being of a size to provide limited displacement from the axial position in relation to the side walls of the tubular section, and means for retaining said rigid member in pivotal contacting position upon the bearing seat of said tubular member and for retaining the rigid member, substantially in axial concentric position within said tubular member, said means comprising a cushioning member disposed in a portion of the' space between the rigid member and the side walls of said tubular member at a point adjacent the pivot point and the end of the rigid member, said pivotal contacting point being located to provide substantially a radius of tilting of said head from a .point near the end of the handle which determines an arc of movement of said head Without materially changing the shaving angle of said razor head.

SOL EDELHEIT. RICHARD F. LANDWEHR. 

